Regional Programme 2017/2018

In its winter term, the Regional Programme 2017/2018 offers 17 workshops that take place in seven countries throughout the region of Central and South-Eastern Europe, including the programme’s first stop in Montenegro. From October 2017 to January 2018, it concentrates on core management topics crucial to every leader of an organisation. Its foci include fundraising and communication as well as HR management and financial planning. Additionally it touches the topic of democracy and its promotion, which is highly relevant in Europe and beyond.

The listing contains three workshops of the summer semester 2017 that were duplicated in fall 2017 due to very high demand.

Business modelling for sustainable impact

In an unpredictable financing environment the NGOs that have developed social businesses manage to compensate the budget or cash-flow deficits through the commercial income and to provide meaningful jobs that empower their beneficiaries. If you have a social business that you want to take to the next level of development, market and impact wise, or if you are considering in your team to develop one, this workshop will provide you with the study-cases, legal frame, validation methods and collaborative visual instruments. The trainer’s experience on social entrepreneurship from different angles of activist, entrepreneur, Government member, and that of your peers will enable you to emerge from this two days with not only clarity but the pragmatism to put ideas to action.

PR in the NGO sector. Challenges and Opportunities

This workshop targets NGO representatives with approximately 3 years’ experience in PR and will be structured in three main parts. In the first part, participants will overview a general framework about the current environment of public relations, the challenges faced by PR professionals and a description of the current media landscape and how it has changed recently due to the rise of social media and the changes of its business model. In the second part of the workshop, the course will overview interviewing techniques and how to prepare for meetings with difficult audiences. In the third part, participants will be asked to attend individual or group exercises (depending on the type of course), they will discuss their work with the trainers and will receive feedback. The workshop will end with a short sum-up session that will go through main takeaways, key learnings and how to follow-up this training

Evaluating for impact

This workshop will (1) teach NGO professionals how to develop their own Theory of Change and how to use monitoring data in a way that sets the basis for sound impact evaluations; (2) show them options regarding what types of evaluations are available, and make informed choices about which are best fit to be used for their own programs; (3) provide them sufficient knowledge to commission an evaluation that answers their particular questions and fulfils their information and accountability needs.

The training will be as hands-on as possible. Besides learning about the topics of the training, participants will be invited to work on the design of an evaluation for their own project/programs. They will (a) generate evaluation questions related to their work, (b) sketch a Program Logic & Theory of Change for their project/program, (c) identify suitable indicators for the progress of their project/program, and (d) outline and discuss designs for an impact evaluation of their project/program.

Management and Participation of Spontaneous and Episodic Volunteers

Volunteers are a key resource for many Civil Society Organizations. Recruiting, managing volunteer staff relations as well as retention are crucial elements of the volunteer management process. Social change due to processes of individualization, dynamization, flexibilization and emancipation are affecting the frequency, the intensity and the way people donate their time to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). Spontaneous volunteering like during the refugee crisis as well as episodic volunteering at big sport or cultural events are rising and getting more and more common in other fields of civic engagement. These developments lead to challenges and chances for the coordination and the management of volunteers. Additionally more volunteers like to be involved and like to participate in decision-making processes and broaden their scope of action and sphere of influence. CSOs have to rethink their volunteer management and governance procedures and develop new and innovative approaches. Against this backdrop, this workshop is dealing with following questions:

What processes and standards can ensure the organizational inclusion of spontaneous and episodic volunteers in a social and workflow dimension?
How can CSOs deal with the rising demand of volunteers to take part in decision-making processes, the workflow design, etc.? What are the merits and limitations considering the rising temporal fluidity of volunteers?
What amount or ratio of spontaneous and episodic volunteers is suitable for a particular organization? Which innovations in volunteer management are needed to cope with these changes and challenges?

Storytelling with moving images – how to get your NPOs story

In our world of media, truly effective storytelling is characterized by image, audio and interaction. Media recipients „donate“ their time – on average 4 to 7.5 hours per day – and they do not want this time to be used for being taught or educated. Instead, they want to be entertained and through this entertainment gain new insights.

In spite of this paradigm shift, many nonprofits still communicate only through text.

This workshop will introduce you to an alternative and provide guidance for communication in the ‘post-print age’. It will explore the basic rules of “storytelling” of image and audio through experiences and many practical exercises. Furthermore, the workshop will focus on developing the editorial competences of participants and introduce you to the tools and tricks of communication as used by successful journalists and media creators.

Public Relations for Nonprofits – creating messages and audiences for your story

This workshop is an intensive two-day training, intended for representatives of non-governmental organizations, with the aim to develop skills in relation to:

Media and the public
creating messages and stories through which they can promote their public policies
customizing messages with different communication channels and target groups
understanding new PR tools related to social networks.

We will also present the latest PR tools (such as Story Telling Video format), but most importantly when and how to properly use them. Within the practical part of the training, participants will have the opportunity to do exercises related to crisis communication and before the camera.

Business planning of social enterprises

Main goal of the workshops is to increase the organizational and impact capacity of participating organizations, with a particular emphasis on sustainable income generation, financial diversification and performance management. Participants will be introduced to the fundamentals of business planning and how to apply them to their own organization

Cost-effective, practical IT management for small and middle-sized NGOs’ workshop

Nowadays information systems offer more and more opportunities, on the other hand it might be difficult to recognize these opportunities and build on them. It is not easy for a non-profit organization to find the cost-efficiently available solutions e.g. mailing system, website or shared storage available also from mobile phones. The result of properly used informatics: more economical, more efficient, safer operation, new ways to implement our strategies, quicker / more extensive / legal reach of beneficiaries, increased social impact.

Social Impact Assessment 2.0

Social impact measurement in Hungary does not have a great tradition, so it is especially important to present it through existing domestic case studies, to show what are the lessons learned, the positive experiences and pitfalls in the design and implementation of a measurement system. In addition to case studies, participants can work together on practical exercises that will enable them to become able to measure the impact of their own organization.

Crowdfunding Academy for Nonprofits

Crowdfunding has been on the rise in the region – since 2012 the number of crowdfunding campaigns in Serbia has grown for 400%, while the total money collected through crowdfunding in Croatia since 2012 to 2015 has exponentially grown. In Bosnia and Herzegovina its necessity is visible through development of a local crowdfunding platform, while Montenegro and Macedonia are only starting to follow this financing trend, especially relevant for civic organizations which lack sustainable and stable financing model.

Workshop on preparation and conduction of crowdfunding campaigns is aimed at civic organizations in the region (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia), with a goal to strengthen their competences in securing sources of financing, but also gaining wider public visibility. The workshop will include the analysis of the crowdfunding process in theory, while on the practical level it will be focused on understanding motivation of campaign backers and creating strategy and specific promotional content, which is one of the most important factors for its success.

Dialogue and Team Development in Responsible Leader’s Practice

Workshop focuses on team leading and communication - the areas which strong leaders are supposed to head. Workshop will familiarize participants with the ways of leading managerial interviews and train its preparation and leading in real examples. The participants will find out if they are able to lead evaluation interview and they will receive feedback from other participants and the trainer based on recorded video. They will try different approaches to leadership in real situations and during various team developmental stages. The participants will get familiar with the team roles and by Belbin Team Roles Test they will evaluate themselves and learn to apply the roles in their work and composing the team. During interactive workshop they will develop their ability to motivate team members according to their team role. The participants will learn how to lead in order to create healthy relationships and teams. Thanks to them they will be able to fulfill the vision of the organization and prosper.

NGOs for Democracy: Developing New Ideas and Projects to Promote Democracy

Democracy is only as good as the people, who live in it and work for it. Whether people get active for human rights, or call for free media or fight against corruption: their activities are crucial for democracy to thrive.

In this workshop, we will think about democracy and what NGOs could do to change democracies for the better. The workshop has two parts: First, participants enter into a process of reflection and analyze the state of democracy, both in their home countries as well as with respect to the organizations they represent. This step is crucial, because only a deeper understanding of democracy can help participants to identify possible avenues for engagement. In a second step, participants will begin developing concrete ideas projects for promoting democracy in their home countries.

All you ever, ever need to know about Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Co - Social Media tips & tricks for NGOs and SEs

The workshop focuses on social media information and examples around NGOs and Social Businesses. The participants will gain deep know-how, tools & strategies, and tips & tricks on how Facebook and Co works and how to gain the most with limited resources.

Managing People: Human Resource Management in NGOs/NPOs

People are by far the most important resource for NGOs. Still, unlike in the business and the public sector, HR management (HRM) is not systematically established in most NGOs. Anyone who wishes to prepare him or herself for the challenges of HRM in this field needs to be familiar with both the classic HRM tools and the specific features of such organizations. Both are dealt with in this seminar.

The seminar gives an overview of the classic processes of HRM, from strategic HR planning and recruitment, through HR performance management to HR development. It also includes a brief look at the various instruments of HR administration (structuring salaries and working hours, feedback structures, and horizontal/vertical career development).

In practical exercises we will concentrate upon four major areas: recruitment, motivation, team management, and HR development. In these areas, participants’ challenges with HR issues will be deeply integrated. Finally, the particular impact of organizational culture on HR management in NPOs/NGOs will be analyzed.

Fundraising: Communications, Community, Strategy

Developing a diverse set of income streams for an organization is more than a healthy strategic choice - - it can be a meaningful way to engage individuals in your mission and vision. Further, there are numerous example emerging from across Central and Eastern Europe of NGOs successfully raising significant funds from their communities. This program will explore what is working across the region and why, and guide you through a process to develop your own communications- based fundraising strategy. This session will primarily cover mass- fundraising and campaign-based fundraising that targets citizens and corporations. It will touch on some interesting social enterprise models but it will not cover grant writing.

Fundraising and resource mobilisation

Join us in the relationship-based, sustainable fundraising world! Find out which techniques and methods are best suited to your organization! Learn which opportunities are available beyond the grant schemes market and explore new ways of matchmaking with different actors of the donor market!

In the recent years, many new forms of fundraising have emerged, from community funding through experience and challenge-based donations to social responsibility-based corporate programs. Our two-day workshop will make you acquainted with the general schemes of resource building and help you to explore the driving forces of these new types of fundraising techniques through examining national and international campaigns.

The training will provide insights about building effective communication campaigns for building micro-donations and also share tools and experience about the necessary administrative and background processes. It will also covers some more intricate aspects of fundraising, including transparency and ethical considerations, and give hints how to build long term relations with companies.

PR strategy and Storytelling for NGOs – from message development to media appearances (B)

The two-day workshop provides you with an insight into the central elements in the field of public relations, starting with the underlying PR strategy and storytelling to the development of compelling key messages and images to appearances in front of cameras and microphones.
The first part gives an overview on the media environment, current trends and key players in the Austrian media landscape. The second part focuses on different aspects of PR strategy and storytelling, so your messages don’t get lost in the constant competition for public attention, media presence and headlines. The third part addresses how you can convey your key messages in media appearances in a practical manner. The focus of this part is on practical exercises while theoretical know-how will be provided as part of the individual reviewing process.

Successfully leading teams and oneself (B)

The capability for successful leadership is not something you are “born” with, albeit this will be no disadvantage. Leadership can be learned and acquired. Professionalization of management must not be limited to technical/instrumental professionalization through increasingly applying management concepts and instruments (e.g. strategic development and controlling). Above all, it also means professionalization of leadership, be it establishing appropriate structural arrangements, interpersonal leadership and improving it through training and learning, and leading yourself to become a holistic leader.
Top-leadership skills are related to knowledge and behaviour of leaders, i.e. how they can influence their employees´ behaviour but also their ideas, emotions and values, their attitude towards organizational goals and strategies, their commitment and identification as well as the more general organizational culture.
In addition, leadership today more than ever means leading in and with teams; the leader as “lone wolf” or “great person”-theories are outdated already for long. The focus now is on social processes within teams. Leaders will continuously have to prove themselves within teams and to be prepared for the dynamics of such teams.

Sales Psychology in NPOs: Selling between mission and marketing (A)

Nowadays, NPOs are more and more forced to negotiate with donors, “sell” their mission and their services and products to the different stakeholder groups or even to run a kind of a retail business. Therefore NPOs have to develop selling strategies according to the theoretical knowledge from psychology and sociology. This requirement becomes especially clear, if for instance the NPO runs a business where products made by beneficiaries are sold to customers - either in a permanent store or at occasional events. The aim of the workshop is to introduce principles of sales psychology and to train sales conversations using practical examples from the participants´ working areas. By means of role plays, the sales situations are displayed and analyzed. Additionally, the different logics of selling and fulfilling the mission of an NGO are illustrated. Furthermore, questions of shop design, product mix (assortment) policy, pricing policy in combination with donations and overall sales concepts (e.g. adaptive selling, benefit selling) are discussed.